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Thank you for visiting my blog! I write contemporary thriller suspense fiction. Mystical Circles is psychological suspense, and the sequel A Passionate Spirit a paranormal thriller. You can order signed copies here. Or download them to your kindle as follows:

Here on my blog, I post weekly. I love to have your comments so please keep them coming! And if you’d like to know more about my next novel Director’s Cut, which I’m working on right now, do sign up for my mailing list here.

As a child I was inspired by Enid Blyton. I started writing adventure stories at the age of seven; the love of writing that her stories first instilled into me has strengthened over the years.

I studied English Literature at Lancaster University, and my first permanent job was as a production secretary with the BBC. Later I lived for nearly five years in Australia. I now live in Warwickshire with my husband David, son Jamie and daughter Abigail.

I completed two full-length adult novels before writing Mystical Circles. I’ve always been fascinated by the interaction of different complex personalities, an inexhaustible source of inspiration for a writer!

And my advice to anyone who wants to be a writer?Read a lot, listen to people’s conversations, be observant about the details of your world, and especially about human behaviour and interaction, and persist in your writing, being single-minded to the point of obsession…never give up, always believe in yourself despite all evidence to the contrary,(Click to Tweet) and hold out for what you first dreamed of.

Thank you for reading this. And if you want to be first to hear about my next novel, which is currently in progress, do sign up on my email list here.

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Author:
scskillman

I write suspense and paranormal fiction: "Mystical Circles" (psychological suspense) and "A Passionate Spirit" (paranormal thriller). I've also published a short non-fiction book "Perilous Path: A Writer's Journey", full of helpful tips, insights and reminders for writers. Find all my books here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/S.-C.-Skillman/e/B004CY5GKE
View all posts by scskillman

That’s very kind of you to say so. I hope that most of what I write on my blog does provide some level of inspiration – it’s exciting to know that inspiration can come from many different, and unexpected sources!

Hi, I was at Lancaster a bit before that – I had left by 1980. I was in Bowland. I have happy memories of watching the sun set over Morecambe Bay from the kitchen window of G floor on Bowland Tower. My first (unpublished) novel arose directly from my experiences at university, & several of the characters were based on tutors/professors at Lancaster, as well as the landlord of the house I lived in (at Scotforth, just down the road from the university campus). It may be I can revise the novel in future & publish it. I hope the Psychology Dept was as varied & intriguing as the English Dept, with a good supply of eccentric teaching staff!

I memorised whole sections of Enid Blyton books when I was a young teenager, especially I think ‘Hollow Tree House’. One day I must find a copy and read it again. Good to meet you at the ACW meeting today in Leamington.

Thank you for your comment, Fran. I enjoyed meeting you too at the writing group! Yes it’s amazing the influence that a beloved children’s writer like Enid Blyton can have long after her readers have grown up – despite all the “political correctness” cricticism of her in the past. I think the character I liked the most in the famous Five was Dick! Also even now I always feel I must have a token animal character in my novels, like Timothy the dog – a Golden Retriever appears in my new novel!

I do appreciate your comment. It’s so encouraging to know that some of what I write strikes a chord in those who read it. See my post on The Pessimistic Optimism of the Long Distance Creative Writer for more on the subject of persisting against the odds https://scskillman.com/2012/03/